THE AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF UNIVERSITY ART AND DESIGN SCHOOLS (ACUADS)

The Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools was established in 1981, initially as the National Conference of Heads of Art and Design Schools. It is the national association that represents Departments, Schools and Colleges of Art and Design in Australian Universities where Diplomas, Degrees, Masters and PhD courses in Art, Craft and Design are presented. The association has served as a forum for senior academic staff in providing support and direction to the development of Art and Design education in Australia for more than ten years.

The Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools represents the members in academic units around all States of Australia and the ACUADS annual conference has grown to become one of the most significant opportunities within the discipline for academic exchange and research publication in Australia.

More ACUADS information

Link to registration form here
Link to accommodation info here

Theme
2003 conference is being developed directly by art and design school academics through their individual interests, as reflected in their abstracts and papers, rather than as predetermined by a theme.

The papers fall into several general groupings that will guide the sessions within the conference program. These include: Art and Design Education; Museums, Galleries, Exhibitions and Curating; Public Art and Design; Art and Design Practice; Place and Nature; and Art and Design History and Analysis. These will most likely become more refined as the completed papers come in, but with some 55 proposed, we will definitely need at least two 'parallel sessions' within the program. Details of the program content won't be available until after the refereeing process concludes in early September. The program will be posted on this web site.

Key-note Speakers
We are currently in the process of confirming key-note speakers for both the Convocation and the Conference. We are negotiating with speakers who can discuss the role of creative practice and political activism within the art and design school environment. Keep an eye on this web site for details, we will announce them soon.

Refereed Papers
We have received more than 40 papers to be refereed and the refereeing process is currently under way for these papers. The DEST guidelines will be strictly followed. Papers will be 'double blind' refereed, which means that each paper will be refereed by two people unknown to the writer, and unknown to each other.

Referees, who are experts in the area/discipline covered within respective papers, have been asked to confirm that the paper is of sound academic standard, free of errors and includes appropriate acknowledgments. S/he has also been asked to comment on the originality and significance of research/creative problem, and recommend to the organising committee that it be accepted without amendment, accepted with amendments as detailed, or rejected.

Convocation
A number of people submitted papers that were directed at the Teaching and Learning and Research convocations. This is a clear demonstration of the usefulness and appeal of the day immediately preceding the formal conference, initiated by the South Australian School of Art at the 2000 conference, and continued subsequently in 2001 and 2002. It is now established as a core element of our conferences, rather than an optional extra. The result is that 'key note' papers will provide the focus for the two parallel sessions on Wednesday 1 October. Associate Professor Lorraine Jenyns will convene the Teaching and Learning Convocation and Associate Professor Jonathan Holmes will convene the Research Convocation. Lorraine and Jonathan will contact their respective speakers and Teaching and Learning and Research coordinators throughout the art and design school network to seek assistance in building the sessions. All convocation papers submitted for refereeing will be processed in accordance with DEST guidelines so that they can 'counted' as fully refereed conference papers.

Unrefereed Papers
The closing date for unrefereed papers is 5.00pm Wednesday July 30. By now we should already have received your abstract, however, if you are considering submitting a paper, please contact Yvette Watt by e-mail ywatt@utas.edu.au.

We anticipate publishing the unrefereed papers on our web site, while the refereed papers will also be published as hard copies. The actual paper should not be more than 3,000 words. Papers should be e-mailed as a word document to Conference Coordinator, Yvette Watt. Please give the document a name that we can readily identify - e.g. include your name and/or the title of the paper. Please also send us a summary of your professional background comprising no more 200 words and including details of your current position, title, role, key responsibilities and institution.

Abstracts
Knowing that most people will have submitted their abstract without having first completed the paper, we are giving people an opportunity to revise and resubmit abstracts. However, as these will be printed within the formal program, we would like them to be no more 200 words. Abstracts should summarise an issue of interest, a question or problem, and place that question in context (e.g., other artists, designers, writers and theorists working with similar interests).

With a very full program shaping up, presentation time will be strictly limited to 20 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions. Therefore presentations are unlikely to be verbatim readings of papers, but edited summaries to accompany the printed version, which will be available at the conference. Such a full program will necessitate some parallel sessions and provide a challenge for all speakers to keep to time and maintain audience interest. As we're all used to public speaking and lecturing, the 'entertainment' function should come easily.

Please note that neither the conference organising committee members nor the referees will act as proof-readers or copy editors for papers. Therefore poorly written papers: containing spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, etc., may be rejected simply because of these rather than 'higher' level concerns. ACUADS is only prepared to publish well-argued and well-presented papers.

Illustrations/images
Subject to cost and workload, and your permission (and copy right clearance), papers may be published on-line with images. If you'd like your images to accompany your published paper, please send us copies of images (or a selection of them) that you will include within your presentation. They should be jpeg files of about 500KB. Please tell us the copyright status of images you send. All images should be clearly named so as be easily identified. Standard details should be provided - i.e. artist's name, title, date, dimensions and media and should also acknowledge ownership of the image. We will need these images by July 30th.

Technical Requirements
The Tasmanian School of Art has a fairly well equipped lecture theatre and seminar rooms. But please make sure that you detail your technical requirements with the paper returned to us.

Exhibition
So far very few people have indicated that they are interested in exhibiting work. If you are interested in exhibiting during the conference, you must let us know as soon as possible so that we can connect you with potential gallery space/s.

Registration
The 2003 ACUADS Conference is shaping up well. Once the papers have been returned by the referees and the unrefereed papers are submitted we will be able to begin drawing up the program.

Registration is now open and the registration form is available. There is an early -bird discount of 10% for those people who register by August 31.

Accommodation
You will find a range of accommodation options here and we are also looking into billeting of guests with hospitable locals. If you are interested in being billeted please contact Conference Coordinator, Yvette Watt.

Launceston
Although the 2003 conference is in Hobart, we strongly encourage our conference visitors to try and find the time to visit other parts of Tasmania. In particular we would encourage a visit to the School of Visual and Performing Arts and the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston. The School of Visual and Performing Arts is part of the University of Tasmania and since the beginning of last year has been housed in impressive purpose-renovated premises at the old Inveresk railway workshops. The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is located on two sites, the original purpose-built building in Royal Park and the Inveresk site. Launceston is only a two and a half-hour coach journey from Hobart.

Contact email addresses:

Should you have any enquiries, please direct them to conference coordinator,
Yvette Watt.